Olive tongs



W. E. BAIR Sept. 2, 1952 OLIVE TONGS Filed Dec. 6, 1948 INVENTOR ATTORNEYS 0 Patented Sept. 2, 1952 UNITED- STATES PATENT OFFICE r 2,609,228 f f ,JOLIVE TONGS g iiWalte'n E. BE til, Washington, no. I Application December a, 1948, Serial No. 63,721-

1 Claim. 1

This invention relates to a device in the form of tongs designed primarily for use in removin olives, maraschino cherries, pickles or the like from bottles or jars.

An important object of the invention is to provide tongs having finger pieces so constructed and arranged that the tongs may be securely gripped by the thumb, index finger and second finger of the hand, in such a 'way as to prevent the tongs from slipping to release the article lifted by the tongs.

Another important object of the invention is to provide means for connecting the pivoted arms held together by means of a pivot pin which is frictionally held in place by means of a spring member, carried by the arms.

Still another object of the invention is to provide tongs wherein prongs are provided on the pivoted arms, the prongs of one arm being pointed and extended beyond the prongs of the adjacent arm, to be used as a means for prying the olives or articles being removed, loose to :be picked up by the tongs.

With the foregoing and other objects in view which will appear as the description proceeds, the invention consists of certain novel details of construction and combinations of parts hereinafter more fully described and pointed out in the claim, it being understood that changes may be made in the construction and arrangement of parts without departing from the spirit of the invention as claimed.

Referring to the drawing Figure 1 is a plan view of tongs constructed in accordance with the invention.

Fig. 2 is a side elevational view thereof.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged fragmental perspective I view illustrating the cooperating fingers at the ends of the arms.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary elevational view partly in section, illustrating the connection between the pivoted arms of the tongs.

Fig. 5 is a bottom plan view thereof.

Fig. 6 is a sectional view taken on line 66 of Fig. 4.

Fig. 7 is a perspective view of the tensioning spring, used in exertin tension on the pivot pin of the tongs.

Referring to the drawing in detail, the tongs embody a pair of pivotally connected arms 5 and 6, the arm 5 havin a split loop portion I disposed adjacent to one end of the arm, the portion .8 of the arm extending at an oblique angle with respect to the main portion of the arm, providing a finger piece 9 which is flattened and provided with an opening II] to permit a portion of the thumb of the hand gripping the tongs, to move thereinto and prevent slipping of the tongs.

The opposite arm 6 is also formed with a portion II which is disposed at an oblique angle with respect to the arm 6, providing a lower finger piece. Secured to the lower finger piece II, is a plate I2 which is inclined with respect to the portion I I, the plate I2 being substantially long to extend beyond the sides of the portion I I, where it is provided with finger openings I3 in which portions of the index finger and second finger of the hand are disposed in gripping the tongs.

The split loop portion I is cut away providing the recess I4 into which the flattened portion I5 of the arm 6 is positioned, the flattened portion I5 having an opening that registers with the opening I6 of the split loop, for the reception of the pivot pin I1 that holds the arms together.

The recess I4 is so formed that a space is provided between the inner edge of the flattened portion I5, and inner edge of the recess, to accommodate the curved end I8 of the tension spring I9, the spring l9 being secured to the portion II, by means of the rivet 20 which is used in securing the plate I12 to the portion II of arm 6.

The curved portion I8 of the spring 19' is so constructed that when the spring is positioned as shown by Fig. 4 of the drawing, and pressure is directed to the spring, the curved portion will be slightly flattened as the openings of the arms 5 and 6 are moved into registry, to receive the pivot pin Il. Due to this construction, tension is placed on the arms and pin to hold the pin in place and at the same time providing means whereby the arms may be readily and easily disconnected for cleaning purposes.

The outer end of the arm 5 is forked as at 2I and the fork 22 formed on the free end of the arm 6 extends beyond the end 2|, and these prongs of the fork 22 are pointed as at 23 so that they may be forced into the olive or article being removed to dislodge the article.

From the foregoing it will be seen that due to the construction shown and described, the tongs may be securely held against twisting in the fingers of the person usin the tongs to remove an article from a bottle.

It will also be noted that the arms may be readily disconnected should it be desired to clean or repair the arms.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed is:

Tongs comprising pivotally connected arms, the

free ends of the arms being forked to grip an article therebetween, a finger piece having flat sides, formed on one end of one arm, said finger piece having a thumb opening, an elongated finger piece embodyin a plate secured to the opposite arm, said plate being disposed at an oblique angle with respect to the side edges of said first-mentioned finger piece, the ends of said plate terminating 'a substantial distance beyond the side edges of said flat finger piece, the adjacent fiat sides of said finger pieces ibeing disposed opposite to each other, said plate having openings for the reception of the ends only-of the fingers of the hand in gripping the tongs and holding the tongs when removing an articleiwit'h the tongs, and a spring member operating be- 4 tween the finger pieces, normally ilrging the forked ends of the arms together,

WALTER E. BAIR.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS 

